Photo: Han Deok-su returns to office. Credit: Yonhap.
Most have expected the Constitutional Court 헌법재판소 to issue its ruling on Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열’s impeachment trial by mid-March, based on the precedents from Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 and Park Geun-hye 박근혜 impeachments. Surely, the thinking went, there could not be more of an open-and-shut case than an attempted self-coup with the military, the cardinal sin that the 1987 constitution was designed to prevent as South Korea transitioned from the dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan 전두환, who came to power through a military coup.
So when the Constitutional Court announced that it would rule on the Han Deok-su impeachment first, the overwhelming reaction was confusion. Yoon was impeached before Han, and the impeachment of the president is certainly more important than the impeachment of the acting president. Even after the March 24 opinion to reinstate Han, the court has not announced the date for the ruling on Yoon’s impeachment trial.
The court’s rejection of Han’s impeachment was also head-scratching. Earlier, the court had ruled that the refusal to appoint a duly nominated Constitutional Court justice was unconstitutional. Yet for Han, who was impeached precisely because he refused to make that appointment, the court found that the infraction was not serious enough to warrant a removal from office.
The decision undermines the court’s own authority, as it apparently permits the executive to indefinitely delay the appointment of a Constitutional Court justice - as it has been the case with Justice Ma Eun-hyeok 마은혁, who has been waiting for his appointment for nearly a month since the court ruled his non-appointment was unconstitutional. The decision was also cautious not to tip its hand on the unconstitutionality of Yoon’s martial law declaration, of which Han was alleged to play a part.
The ruling is fueling wild speculations as to Yoon’s fate, as the Constitutional Court remains inscrutable with its conclave-like secrecy. The far-right is claiming that at least three justices are holding out from removing Yoon, which would lead to Yoon’s reinstatement. Liberals are fretting that the court may be playing politics with its calendar, waiting for the March 26 appellate ruling on Lee Jae-myung 이재명’s criminal case for elections law violation - which may make Lee ineligible to run in the presidential election that would follow Yoon’s removal, if the Supreme Court upholds Lee’s conviction.
